Behavioral Issues

I don't want to sound personnel but if you are in control why does he keep showing aggression to other intact dogs. By taking him away from the other dog is not teaching him not to be aggressive . He may see you as boss but he wants to be second in charge and see,s all other intact dogs as a threat to his position. Don't be to proud to use a muzzle , and as I said take out to mix with intact dogs . As he can't hurt them and will soon relize,s this you need to stand up and let him know your displeasure using voice and physical presence and a small water pistol as he will hate being squirted. You should find the water pistol works a treat. I would do this every few days until his stops the aggressive behaviour , then I would try without the muzzle but always keep the water pistol with you and let him see it as he will remember what happens when he acts up. This is a method I have used to help mates control their pig dogs . I am by far an expert and are always prepared to Liston to others thoughts as this is how I learn.

Unfortunately we have the same problem with our boy (9) and girl (10). Off leash they play well - 95% of the time. The other 5% can be a disaster especially with small frightened dogs. My guys have gone after such animals and even bitten them - once drawing a small amount of blood. This behaviour seems quite instinctive and regrettably I have not been able to curb it. I do hope your pleasant little fellow doesn’t go this far. But we are talking about a very primitive breed.

Thank you all for your useful tips. Through this trial and error process I have found that crating them has been very helpful. I guess it is there safe place.

You need to get a professional to come to your home and observe... and give suggestions

Our Lacey, will not even poop in the yard. She prefers to go to the wooded area in our backyard or a ditch in the front. When we were visiting relatives on a farm for a week she would walk out into the cornfield to poop. In fact she was visibly disturbed when the other dogs would poop in the yard. She would look at them as if she was thinking, "But why are you pooping in the playground?". Even if we picked it up she would avoid running over the spots while playing.

Sudden behavior change at this age is almost always medical. I am glad you are now keeping him separated, but honestly you should have the first incident. After the first bite, most courts or judges would rule you knew he was a danger and he could not only have been seized, but you sued for significant damages. You are lucky no one is filing. Thyroid is the primary cause that I am aware of for sudden change. Yes, brain tumors are possible, but more likely thyroid. Some forms of epilepsy also can cause a dog to attack, but typically this is truly out of nowhere-- not like what you describe when a dog is told no about something. Pain can also do it.. sadly cancer had been found in similar situations of sudden growing aggression. The ENCOURAGING part is you had several months without problems... so again, look at the most simple... thyroid. Make sure you get a full panel, not just an in-house partial. In the meantime, understand you didn't cause this, and it may be fixable. If thyroid, it's inexpensive medication. But you won't know until you get tests runs. Hopefully those wanting him put down will feel better knowing you are acting to find out if there is a medical issue.

@DebraDownSouth Thanks Debra, you've given me a lot to think about. I think I'll start immediately with the "leave it" training at home and then get in touch with some trainers/behaviorists in my area. I'm not expecting any miracles here but, like you said, even just learning to ignore other dogs would make such a difference.

Wow, I'm afraid that's pretty overwhelming to deal with and like eeeefarm said, no way on earth to do it in a week. However, you do need to begin working on it soon and plan on a very long time to turn this around. Because this dog has shown he will grown and try to bite, your risk of him actually biting, and your legal liability are huge. If you can buy or borrow a secure crate (they aren't cheap) that he can't get out of or hurt himself in, do so. If you can't, do what eeefarm suggested, and make darn sure that leash and collar are totally secure. Once your nephew has left, please get a trainer to start working with your family and this dog on both children and crating. They are very important and it can be overcome.

What type of training are you interested in? Is this a housebreaking issue, obedience problem, or some behaviour you want to discourage? Since you have posted in behavioural problems, I assume you are having some difficulties with something. If you are more specific it might be easier to point you in the right direction, i.e. to an obedience trainer or an animal behaviourist.

Lots more information needed here. As Debra asked, how old? How long have you had this dog? Is this a new behaviour and if so how recently has it appeared? What training have you done with this dog? IMO, it isn't unusual for a Basenji to object to doing something it doesn't want to do (or when asked to cease doing something it does want to do!), but usually this will be only a grumble and if it has escalated to biting or threatening to bite you need to deal with it, and if you aren't confident then you need help from a qualified trainer.

@mshilo said in Running away: This is an excellent idea! Do not laugh at me, but I had this dream for many years, to come with my dog to travel, hiking in Nepal. Then to an Island in Thailand for few months I first wanted to go with my kid, but, unfortunately, I am still single, so I shifted my dream to a dog. I wonder if I can bring Basenji with me, after let say, a year of training with a long line, training him to come back when I call. What do you think? A dog off leash traveling, especially to other countries, mountains etc is a recipe for disaster. If something spooked the dog, or it went into hunt mode, how will you get it back? Where are the resources (people, family, rescues) to help put out food, traps, whatever? How long can you extend your stay. Even with a leash, you risk a fall or something, but at least you have more control. But why not take a relatives child or children? Or find a hiking companion?

I completely forgot about this topic, but I figure I would reply (after a 4 month hiatus) with updates. Thank you all for your responses. Marvel no longer bites (what a relief!). It stopped around the time that all of his adult teeth were falling out, so I assume it was related to the discomfort of his baby teeth. He will play bite every now and then, but nothing drastic. Marvel no longer wakes up absurdly early now that he's 6 months old, as someone pointed out. He typically gets up when we do except for the rare occasion here and there. Marvel has been marvelous and his behavior only gets better. The only "issue" we deal with now is his separation anxiety when we leave him in a crate. I'll probably make a separate topic on this. And he seems to be strangely attached/dominant to my girlfriends underwear when he manages to get a hold of it... Thanks! Peter

@nikikob - Wish you luck, but I fear to say that things are going to go badly. When bitches fight, 99.9% of the time you will never get them back together and while it might work for a while, when the "mood" hits... the fights become worse and worse.

Most of my friends who end up getting a second dog from my breeder go for the opposite gender. Well, pretty much everyone! Since you are flexible about the gender that might be the way to go! I knew I wanted two boys (and maybe a third some day!) and the breeder had no problem letting me have two because A) he was my third dog from him and B) he knew I could handle it. I can't wait to see pictures when you get that new baby!

This is a very common basenji issue! They get comfortable and don't want to be bothered. My brindle dog only does it when he's still delirious from sleep and "snaps out of it" when he realizes what's going on. Teaching a dog "OFF!" is very important! Do it when they are happy and awake and then move to sleepy and grumpy. On the couch, say OFF! and treat them when they get it right. It becomes a game. Both of my dogs know what "OFF!" means and listen to it. One of them will continue to grumble until he's fully awake and then he's back to his happy self. I agree with Pat and the treats for crate time. When I leave for work I say "Who wants a treat?" and off they run to their kennels! I break out the good stuff for going to work time. At night I say night-night and in they go. This didn't happen overnight! It took my red boy months to like his crate. Lots of sleepless nights with a screaming puppy. I actually had to buy him a new one because I discovered he was scared of the all enclosed plastic crates. Now his perfect in his crate and goes in on his own to relax.

@DebraDownSouth Good Grief Deb ~ I laughed so hard at this I almost choked!! "It's like having a doctor call it your "wee wee" but you are correct!! (still giggling here)! :-)

@eeeefarm Hi eeeefarm! Haven't told you that it's nice to see your back! And yes! I agree with you, new year, new opinions...on the Basenjis! And as you already know, it doesn't matter if we're talking about b's feet or their wonderful wrinkles, all 3 of us are getting thumbs down clicks. Nice to see you back as you always have some good advice!

The NILF program is exactly the sort of thing your basenji needs. She has hit teenage time and like human teenagers is pushing authority. In this case, don't push her off the couch or yank the afghan from under her or any of those sorts of manuvers. Start by getting her attention just before she is going to jump onto the couch by offering a treat diverting her attention away from the couch. If she decides to come for the treat, she gets it, and then gets to be on the couch as a double reward; if she decides to complete her jump to the couch instead, she doesn't get the treat. Once she starts to look at you first ("asking permission") before she takes the couch then the reward becomes the couch. And to get her off the couch, use the reverse. Offer her a treat in such a way that she has to get off the couch to get it and click as soon as she decides to get off Once she understands that, add the "off" word. You might have to use treats just for this exercise that she wouldn't get any other time to make this more enticing to her. You might also want to introduce mat work so that she has to go to her mat or afghan or whatever, on the floor, instead of getting on the couch in the first place.

@Nancy-Berry said I'm glad that it's getting so that their dew claws don't have to be removed! Yes. Having, or not having, dew claws is definitely not indicative of a good or bad breeder, or of the quality of the dog. I have had 2 different rescue Basenjis without dew claws who originated from "show" breeders; and I currently have a Basenji that I am showing who HAS dew claws. I would certainly hope that any judge would not base any decisions on whether or not a dog has dew claws. The only problem with leaving dew claws on a Basenji is that it increases the odds of their ability to use power tools! -Joanne

First, yeah they do the flip and butt in face. I see it as invitation to play/chase mostly. Kind of shaking my head here over the rest. You already have a breed known for dominance and protectiveness of property/family with the Boerboel. Basenjis (I assume you mean 6.5 not 65 years old :) ) are not known for tolerating same sex. Sometimes they do, but not a sure bet. Plus, your Boerboel is still a puppy. By age 2 or 3, that compliance with the Basenji being alpha can go down the drain at a drop of a hat. That happens, and he hasn't killed the basenji... you have to keep 2 packs running, ensuring they never have contact. Then you bring in a mixed breed... which is all a Mastador is. No way on earth to know how much it will take after the lab side or the Mastiff. AND it's another male. So now you have potentially 3 dog aggressive male dogs, with 2 of them large enough to inhale the basenji. I am not sure about the breeders who placed the Boerboel, certainly not the owners letting you bring in the Mastador. I want my male dogs to have a chance of a peaceful, unstressful life. I think the chances in your home are already approaching really low numbers, and the Mastador is going to bring that closer to zero. The safety of that poor basenji is beyond precarious. I wouldn't want those 3 males in the most experienced of homes, one already fully ready to and experienced in running separate packs. I sincerely hope you reconsider the Mastador. And no, getting a female won't help. Until the Boerboel is fully mature and you have a handle on what your pack is, adding any dog is going to up the risk of issues.